Neon Indian [9 p.m.; Webster Hall]At its core, Alan Palomo's music as Neon Indian sounds personal and intimate. On 2009's breakout debut Psychic Chasms, his voice breathed against your neck, a smothering presence that allowed enough space for endless synth squiggles and acid-damaged tape spools. This year's excellent sophomore effort, Era Extraña, felt made for a party of one, but in a different way; amidst its candied hooks and heady aura was a core of loneliness-- music for falling in (and out) of love even if there was no one on the other end. But Neon Indian's sold-out headlining set at Webster Hall was the opposite of intimate, and the party-hardy atmosphere definitely felt a little out of step with Palomo's muted singing and wavy instrumental freak-outs. Neon Indian's work demands (and benefits from) close attention.

Actual question I was asked by a stranger: "Do you know where I can find any acid?"

Bridge-and-tunnel volume: High

Number of Phish shirts sighted: One

Overheard in the crowd: "If you don't have a beard, you're not a Neon Indian fan." -- Larry Fitzmaurice

Azealia Banks [1:45 a.m.; The Westway]If you haven't heard Harlem rapper Azealia Banks' raunchy, extra-fun-sized single "212", do it. Now. Last night, Banks performed that song and five others in a short, 20-minute set at strip club-turned-non-strip club The Westway. The hotly-tipped upstart did her thing on a pole-less runway, spitting rhymes in every direction, walking the walk. She definitely made the most of her time, and the whole thing was over practically before it even started. Everyone wanted more-- a good problem to have for an act poised to break big in the coming months.

How Azealia Banks introduced "212": "This is the song that everyone came here for."

Shape of disco ball: A headless female bust

Sign that you're at a party at an abandoned strip club: A woman with a fur hat is walking around with a bottle of nondescript brown liquor.

Important question: Are all strip club bathrooms the size of airplane toilets?

Funniest thing said about CMJ at a non-CMJ event taking place in the middle of CMJ: "Hope y'all have been enjoying CMJ this week." -- Larry Fitzmaurice

Purity Ring [7 p.m.; Webster Hall]Skewed Canadian electro-pop duo Purity Ring have only released three songs total thus far, but their combination of pitched-down vocals and creeping, irregular beats has arrived fully formed. And it was hard not to be transfixed by their live show, too. The pair performed mostly in the dark, letting their atmospheric set speak for itself while standing as close to the front of the stage as possible, creating an odd intimacy in a relatively big CMJ venue like Webster Hall. This is how you introduce yourselves.

Percentage of likely purity ring wearers in the audience: 3%

Number of songs that sounded like Drake's "Marvin's Room": One

Number of songs that sounded like the Knife: All of them-- Larry Fitzmaurice

Action Bronson [XXL Showcase, Highline Ballroom; 11 p.m.]Most of the many, many eager teenage boys at last night's XXL showcase seemed to have come out for headlining Cleveland rhymer Machine Gun Kelly, but Queens-bred chef/rapper Action Bronson probably won a few of them over thanks to some Bad Santa tactics-- at one point he handed a sparked joint into the crowd and told them to "pass that shit around!" He spent his time on stage alternating between commanding performances of songs from his recent Dr. Lecter and slapping as many hands as possible while trying his best to not to break down into laughter.

In their hometown of Denver, it's likely that art-pop group Gauntlet Hair has been compared to "a Brooklyn band" more than a few times. But while the fuzz-fest that took the Brooklyn DIY scene by storm two years ago has now been replaced by slightly more polished sounds, Gauntlet Hair kept the reverb fresh at Manhattan's Mercury Lounge.

Performing at his only CMJ gig of the week, the Memphis rapper was joined by Lamar, his laptop beatmaker, who put Aviv's raspy rhymes over dreamy-but-deep electronic sounds that felt similar to other super-smooth electronics to hit the blogosphere in recent years-- just don't call him a chillwave rapper...